BarCampLA-4 Wrap-Up

It always takes me about a week to come to closure with a camp. Besides the obvious sleep debt to be paid, I also enjoy watching the pics and videos roll in, checking out the session media that gets posted, and listening to the conversations that originated at camp as they get taken out into the world. Especially the last one: I believe that’s what motivates me, at least, to keep working on these. Those conversations and connections are priceless, and it’s a pretty amazing feeling to get to see those shockwaves from the epicenter. So, really, thank you all for making good on all the promises we made that this would be an amazing group of people with things to share. We can only set the stage, but you guys put on one hell of a play.

By the Numbers

So, the breakdown looked something like this:

About 200 Participants over two days (That’s almost double from March 2007)

Close to 40 unique presentations

15 Sponsors

$5400 Budget (Spent to the last $40 or so, so if anyone wants reimbursing for drinks or snacks, hit me up) Complete Expense details will be available on the wiki as soon as the last sponsor check gets processed.

Thanks

There are more people to thank than I think I can fit into this space or possibly link to, so let me start off by saying thank you to every person who answered our call for help on Sunday morning and brought sodas, fruit, bread, yogurt, ice, etc. When you’re on a fixed budget for a free conference and then attendance doubles out of nowhere (as it did), you’re suddenly not sure whether to say “yay!” or “uh oh…” Those contributions, from cupcakes to sunflower seeds to sodas to fruit, kept us in the “yay!” category. So thank you all for stepping up and really being every bit the awesome community we love to brag about.

Sponsors

BarCamp simply could not be the free, accessible, community event it is without our sponsors. These companies make this event possible, pitch-free, no strings attached. They ‘get’ what we’re doing here, and so many of them were in active participation at the event, not as sponsors, but as BarCampers. So, thank you to:

Little Radio Warehouse – There’s a reason we list these guys under both ‘Sponsors’ and ‘Hosts’ on the wiki. Not only do they give us such an awesome venue for free, Jimmy spends the weekend working just as hard as the organizers to make sure everything runs smoothly for the event. I don’t think we can say thanks enough, but we try.

3jane IndieClick – A big thanks to 3jane IndieClick for returning as sponsors this round.

Belkin- Belkin has always been such a huge supporter of BarCamps in LA and elsewhere. Thanks so much to Jory and crew for sticking with us!

Disney – A big thanks to Mike and the team at Disney for continuing to support BarCamp in Los Angeles, even with the success of PoohCamp, their internal unconference. Also, I think Mike’s most excellent wi-fi shirt upstaged us all for supreme geek wear.

DreamHost – Suuuuure, Dreamhost couldn’t just sponsor, they had to throw in a year’s free hosting for everyone at BarCamp as well. Sweet! Thanks, guys!

Microsoft – Thanks again to Microsoft, always a huge help to us. They were kind enough this year to cover our insurance costs, one of our largest expenses, for us. Such a huge help. Also, a huge thanks to Woody Pewitt for working the registration desk for most of the day Saturday.

::search.labs -search labs specializes in placing top talent in the web 2.0 and new media sphere. Thanks for supporting BarCamp!

Show-in-a-Box -How cool is it that a free software project wanted to be a BarCamp sponsor? Show in a Box is a video blogging platform built on WordPress, and consisting of WordPress, a custom set of plug-ins, and a custom theme. Check it out! It’s free!

[Si]TV – [Si]Tv is a 24 hour, English-speaking Latino cable channel with a video-rich website. Tune over to www.sitv.com/ to see what they’ve got going on.

Special Thanks To:

Jason Cosper, my co-BarCamp Counselor (Lambie, did you coin that?). You know I can’t possibly name everything, but thanks for the moral support, the mad publicity and blog and twitter and sponsorship wrangling, Saturday and Sunday and all they entailed, and for that amazing yell of doom of yours that made it possible for my squawking to be heard. Beer doesn’t cut it, I owe you whiskey.Dan Tentler, for running network ops and getting/keeping the wifi running. “What? There’s a muffin up here! How the hell?JoAnna and her ninja-like reflexes where catering is involved made it possible to get food laid out for 150+ people in 10 mins or less not once, but THREE times. That plus the pre-ordering food consulting made a world of difference for us.CJ Little, whose remarkably lifelike cardboard facsimile somehow managed to co-staff the registration booth for most of Saturday along with Woody Pewitt, ensuring that BarCampers were greeted, tagged, and signed in. Thanks!Andy Sternberg, who wrangled us an awesome keg of Craftsman and the ice to cool it. More thanks to Bino Gopal for the no-questions-asked instant office supply run. Jane Lee, who volunteered herself and her vehicle to pick up EVERYTHING that wouldn’t fit in my car from Costco, plus Saturday’s lunch. (That was a lifesaver!) Thanks to Chris Gagne for picking up Saturday morning’s coffee. And lastly, a huge thanks to Darren Wong for not taking no for an answer and working in the middle of the night to give us a killer new BarCampLA logo. We love it!

Plus, a very special thanks to Richard M. Stallman (RMS) for joining us, hanging out, having fun, and for speaking. We don’t usually condone ‘keynotes’ for BarCamp, but if there were ever a case for an exception, this was most certainly the time.